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Anson superintendent takes on new role

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WADESBORO, N.C.-- A local superintendent says one high school’s problems were on the verge of a perfect storm and he is now taking a rare approach to fix them.

Dr. Gregory Firn has been the Superintendent of Anson County Schools for the past year and a half, but it wasn’t until recently that his job description changed and so did his office.

Nowadays, his office is at Anson Senior High School and he has taken on the role of principal since the most recent one announced his retirement.

"They were at a point where we felt that if we did not intervene that we, in all respects, may have lost our high school," said Firn.

Since moving his office to the high school, he has been there every single day.

It’s what he calls "Operation Higher Ground."

It focuses on five key things:  dress, language, behavior, attendance and teaching/learning.

A few months ago, a second school resource officer was hired.

"Because there's a perception, or has been a perception, that the school is not safe and orderly, we felt we needed to take a step with law enforcement,” Firn said.

Plus, the school has done away with its In-School Suspension program that Firn says wasn’t working. So, he came up with an alternative.

"If you disrupt learning, if you disrupt it to a point where a teacher has to stop their teaching, that is an arrestable offense," he said.

So far this school year, he said five students have been arrested.

"Have I had students taken out of class in handcuffs?  Yes, we have.  It only takes once,” said Firn.

He’s currently looking for a principal to fill the vacancy at the high school.